Musings of a Born Again Christian seated in the Front Row for the First Time

I love social media and it loves me back. Or does it?

A good friend of mine and I were talking yesterday and just as I was thinking it he mentions, “Have you noticed how negative Facebook and social media have become?”

There’s a couple of things to consider here. Facebook is not a webpage in a traditional sense. If you visit my website, you can scroll down and quickly arrive at the BOTTOM of the page. Facebookland, has is no end. FB simply keeps putting in front of you what they believe you’d like to see based on many criteria. If you linger on certain photos, or a person’s page, or comment a lot, or are tagged in such and such, they all contribute to the algorithm used to flop items up in front of you.

So… Not to get too deep on this morning, but you, yourself, are part of this equation. If you see tons of negativity, it is in large part because it is out there and around you. However, you should also note that you’re the other half of any one of these connections. Right?

The Creation of Adam is a famous “touch” is it not? What are our touches and connections like?

Jesus commands us to spread the Gospel. About 2000 years back we were handed a mandate. In roughly two thousand years of work, we’re just under 1/3 of the world’s population in terms of those who self identify as Christians. Yet, today, at this moment, I could tweet out something and in theory over 7 billion people have instant access to it. Think about that…

Matthew 28:19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Our connections matter. Instead of dating these days and learning about one another over coffee and a yummy roll, or dinner and movie, and then an absence of one another to give us time to decide if there was merit for another date, we’re quasi-connected through Facebook, Messenger, Texts, Emails, Snap Chats, and a sea of impertinent touches upon one another. I recently asked some kids under 18 about the number of times they ‘connect’ with the people they were dating.

I was not shocked, but disappointed to learn the sum of the various methods of contact could be as high as 80 to 100 times daily. …And what content and value did any of these touches have? Almost none. “OMG” or “IDK” or “what evs” along with selfies were the norm. Our youth, and our direction in western culture, is shaping up to be a series of informal and valueless touches dozens of times an hour. It is absolutely imperative we make connections count now more than ever before. If our youth can’t connect with another person on a spiritual level and learn what quality connections truly consist of, how are they going to choose and form quality relationships that include Christ and last their lives through? We know the answers already. They cannot.

Thessalonians 5:11 – Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing

Are we connecting with people electronically in order to elevate them?

Romans 12:15 – Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep

Are we connecting with believers and non-believers together so we share our joys and our sadness?

Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law

Are our connections chocked full of the positives in true Spirit of the Lord? Or are they something other?

John 15:4 – Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me

Do yourself and your cyber self a favor and avoid the negativity. Both what you see and what you give… If our world is quickly being reduced to a series of connections in electronic format, which is a false choice by the way and a topic for another day, should we not try and make those connections positive and virtuous? Are we prepared to share the message and the Gospel through these connections? Will we recognize when our connections are negative? I think these are questions we should be asking and answering, as our current crop of youngins’ aren’t going to be equipped to properly live in the world if we don’t. For that matter, we may not be either.